Translations
by twiXlite
Summary: Tattward&Inkella contest entry. Covered in indecipherable ink, Edward attempts one last time to find out what the words on his skin mean. Will Bella be able to translate the ancient texts or will Edward be left in the dark once again? OOC ExB


**Tattward & Inkella One-Shot Contest**

**Title: **Translations

**Your pen name: **twiXlite

**Characters: **Edward & Bella

**Disclaimer: **SM owns, I just like messing with them.

**To see other entries in the Tattward & Inkella Contest, please visit the C2 page:  
**www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/community/Tattward_and_Inkella_Contest/71624/

I glanced over my shoulder, looking in the mirror at the mass of writing on my back for the millionth time since it had appeared. I had stopped caring what it meant or who gave it to me. It wasn't going to change the fact that it was there for the rest of my life.

But it seems that the rest of the world is still enamored with the mystery of "Edward Cullen's Tattoo".

Apparently, it was written in some ancient language that hadn't been used for thousands of years. If that was the case, then how the hell did it appear on my back?

But then again, that was what dozens of historians and transribers had tried to figure out in the years since it had happened. None of them had even come close to discovering its meaning. All they had discovered was that it was old.

Well-fucking-done.

Now if you could tell me how the fuck it appeared, I would love to know.

Lets just say, I'm never leaving the fucking States again!

Who knows what else might happen.

I signed up for a summer 'desert adventure' with my family before I finally left for college. Sounds corny, I know, but what with going pre-med, I would have little time to see my family like I was used to. And what with moving to the other side of the country, it was going to be even harder to get back to see them. So we kind of wanted this summer to be a bit special.

And fuck me! It became special.

My little sister, Alice had wandered off somewhere, and I had been sent on retrieval duty. None of us really wanted Alice lost in the desert. So, find her I would.

As it turned out, it was _me_ that got lost in the desert, trying to find her. She returned to out family ten minutes after I'd set off to find her, crying about something that was going to happen to me. I don't think that the pleas behind her sobs were noticed, because my parents were just happy that she was alright. They just thought that she was upset because she had been separated from us. Nobody noticed when I didn't come back immediately after her.

Little did anyone know, that she was right.

Little weirdo always did have strange 'precognitive' powers or something like that.

The next thing I know, is I'm waking up in the hospital three days later, in the nearest city to where we were staying, my worried family surrounding me, nothing wrong with me, a load of ink on my scribbled on my back.

Apparently, some archeologists had found me fifty miles away from where I had been originally, unconscious. They had abandoned what they were doing, having seen me, face down in the sand, intially amazed at what had been etched into my back and then realising that I was unconscious and needed medical attention.

Helpful buggers, right?

You'd think so.

I sighed, throwing a tshirt on, covering up the illegible calligraphy that adorned my back and throwing on my overworn leather jacket as well.

As I was walking through to my kitchen, my phone started buzzing, alerting me to a new call. I quickly checked the caller ID and saw that it was Alice.

"Hey, Ali-cat." I said into the phone, not even pretending to be jovial, especially at this time in the morning. She knew me better than that and would be able ton read straight through my façade as she always could.

"Morning to you, too." She chuckled down the phone.

"Sorry, Al." I apologised sincerely. I hated it when my mood affected Alice in any way. She was just naturally upbeat. It wasn't something that she could change or be blamed for. "It's just…. you know." I didn't need to elaborate because she knew what I was talking about.

I had been contacted by another transcriber last week. I swear, they couldn't leave me alone. This would be the last one. I swear. If they couldn't work out what the damned thing said, then I was through with it. Why it had even become big news in the first place was a wonder to me.

"Because its in a language that is supposed to have died out thousands of years ago." Alice replied, as smoothly as if I had been asking her the question out loud. _Had I?_ I wondered. I didn't think that I had been speaking out loud. "No. You didn't. I just know how you think." I could hear the smugness in her voice and I made my way towards the door, rolling my eyes at the phone.

"Uh-huh." I murmured down the phone as I made sure that the door to my apartment was locked before making my way to the elevator at the end of the corridor. "Is there a purpose behind this phone call, Al? I have to meet the bloody woman in half an hour."

Last Wednesday, I had a message through on my answermachine from an Isabella Swan asking me to phone her back at the nearest possible time. I had just finished an all nighter at the hospital where I worked and wanted to get to bed, but I knew that if I didn't phone her back before I crashed, I never would. So me being me, phoned her back and agreed to meet her without actually realising that I'd agreed to meet her until the next afternoon when she'd called me again, setting up a time to meet. If I hadn't been raised right by my mother, and couldn't envision her smacking me upside the head with her purse, then I would have backed out, knowing that I wouldn't be able to deal with someone else pouring over my back for god knows how long.

It was not on my list of things to do this week.

But, the gentleman in me couldn't turn down a lady. If it had been a man, I probably would have told him where to shove it, but because of that tiny little gender difference, I couldn't.

"Don't give up on this one." She replied cryptically, leaving me confused.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked before stepping into the elevator, knowing that when I went down into the basement parking lot of my apartment building, I would lose the signal and never find out what my dimiuitive little pixie for a sister was talking about. If she hadn't been like this her whole life I would have sworn that it was pregnancy hormones doing this to her. But nope, she had always been confusing and cryptic. It had been an Alice trait for as long as she could talk.

"Exactly that." She replied and I could hear her opening and closing what sounding like her refrigerator door on the other end of the phone. "She'll work it out. Give her time and she'll work it out."

"Are you sure?" I asked her, my disbelief echoing in my voice. Even I could hear it so I knew that she could as well.

"Absolutely." She sounded so confident. I wish that I was as confident as she was about anything that happened. Ever since that summer, I had been withdrawn and bitter. I knew it, but I couldn't really bring it in me to care. "Oh, and it seems you might find a little more than a transcriber in her. Later, bro!"

With that she hung up and I stood there staring at my phone like the imbecile I was. I shook my head, trying to figure out what my crazy imp of a sister was talking about, stepping into the elevator and leaning against the metal bar that ran around the mirrored walls at about waist height.

What had she meant? _You'll find a little more than a transcriber in her_? What the hell does that mean?

What _should_ I expect from Isabella Swan?

I still couldn't work out what Alice was talking about as I made my way across the parking lot that spread across the whole expanse of the apartment block I lived in. Climbing into my silver Volvo S60R, I immediately strapped myself in and turned the keys in the ignition. I wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible and to me the earlier I got there, the earlier I could leave. The only thing that theory didn't work with was my shifts at the hospital.

I turned on the radio to have Skillet blast out of the speakers at me. Just what I needed. Loud music to start the day. I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road of the city and turned up the radio. The roads were amazingly clear for this time in the morning, but then again, I didn't really know how busy the roads were at normal times, seeing as I never worked a normal shift.

After about ten minutes or so, I pulled up to the address that Isabella had given me over the phone the previous Thursday, and I slid easily into a parking space next to a beat up old truck. What something like that was doing in the city was beyond me. It looked like it should be on its last legs on a ranch or something. With its rusting red paint and dulled chrome, it looked like it would be better at an antique show rather than still in use.

I shook my head at the monstrosity, hoping that the owner of it didn't leave before I did. I didn't want to risk anything happening to my car as they pulled out. Not that I didn't trust other drivers. I was just really fucking protective of the car.

I walked through the main doors into the lobby of the overpriced looking lobby, walking up to the front desk where a blonde girl sat, filing her nails, clacking gum and looking incredibly bored with everything that was going on. She didn't even notice me as I walked up to the desk and stood in front of her.

I cleared my throat she looked up, bored. Her expression immediately changed when she looked at my face and I braced myself for the reaction that I got from every female I bumped into.

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry." She stopped clacking the gum – although I could see that it took a great effort for her to do so – and put the nail file down on the desk in front of her. She leaned forward on the desk, resting her chest on her clasped hands, opening up her shirt even more, giving me a view down it. One I was not interested in.

"Isabella Swan." I stated bluntly and the girls face fell slightly.

"Twenty-fourth floor." She replied, her voice lilting and an attempt at sexy.

"Thank you …… Lauren." I said, smiling looking at her nametag. She smiled at me as though it was amazing that I knew her name, obviously completely forgetting that it was printed right there on the front of her fucking shirt.

I walked past the front desk, aware of her eyes on me, and approached the elevators. I pressed the call button for them and waited, wanting to get away from the leering little girl who was probably fresh out of high school looking at her. Either that or maybe one or two years older. And that was _not_ a turn on for me. Others: yes. Me: no.

I like women born in the same generation as myself.

Finally, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. I walked inside, pressing the button for the twenty-fourth floor as per the girls intructions and settled back onto the wall, watching the lights travel past each number as the elevator passed each floor on my short journey.

A few people got on and off the elevator, looking at me curiously as though wondering what I was doing here.

Okay, maybe I didn't really fit in here, but my appearance wasn't _that_ bad. It was nowhere near as bad as it could have been, let me tell you that.

I got off at the twenty-fourth floor, which appeared to be an ominous looking hallway. If I admit it to anyone, it was kind of creepy. Hell, I wanted to get this over and done with, so I made my way down the corridor, coming to another reception desk. This time there was a guy sitting behind it, looking incredibly up himself if I do say so myself. He looked me up and down as though I was something he'd rather not deal with. _What-the-fuck-ever, buddy. Just tell me where I'm supposed to be going already._

"I'm here to see Isabella Swan." I told him and he looked at me cynically again.

"Name." He said shortly and condescendingly. What the fuck was up with this guy? He was a receptionist for balls' sake. Not the most prestigious job in the world.

"Edward Cullen." I sighed, having been through this a million times before.

He took a couple of minutes on his computer, looking through the files for my name, although I was sure that if I turned the computer screen around I'd find a game of solitaire up on the screen.

"Through the door at the far end of the hallway." He pointed vaguely, in the direction I was meant to go in and turned back to his computer.

"Thank you." I turned back to look at him. "Oh, and by the way …… Eric… you might want to improve your bedside manner, as it were. Acting as though you're a pompous twat who owns the world, is not going to get you very far."

With one final smirk, I walked off in the direction he had pointed in, walking through a door and coming to yet another person sat at a desk.

There was a dark haired girl sitting behind it seeming engrossed in what she was doing. She looked up when I approached, and smiled as I walked towards her.

"You must be Edward Cullen, yes?" She asked looking at her computer screen.

"That's right." _Thank God someone's clued up in this fucking place._

"I'll just ring through and let her know that you're here." She told me with a smile on her face. It wasn't a flirty smile, like I was used to, but it was a helpful smile. I noticed the engagement ring on her finger and couldn't help but smile. "Bella? Yeah, he's here…" She paused. "Okay." She put the phone down and smiled up at me. "She'll be with you in a few moments."

"Thank you ……. Angela." I smiled down at her as I walked over to the seats in the small area outside of this woman's office. She must be good at what she does. Something told me that she was more than a simple transcriber, that there was something else to her.

Suddenly, Alice's words came back to me. _You'll find a little more than a transcriber in her._ Did Alice mean that she had other qualifications than being able to transcribe languages? Was there more under her belt than that?

After a moment or two, the door to the office flew open and a man stalked out, looking slightly pissed. He faltered in his step as he saw me sitting in the chair, waiting to see Isabella. He blinked at me, his eyes opening to openly glare at me as he stalked past. _What the hell was that about_? I wondered, confused. I looked at Angela, who had noticed this little exchange as well, and she shrugged her shoulders. I did the same and she looked at the man, before going back to her work.

"Edward Cullen?" A soft, throaty voice called me from the doorway the angry man had just come from.

I looked up and my breath caught slightly in my throat. Standing in front of me was the envisionment of a goddess come to earth.

She wasn't that tall, the heels she wore, putting her at about five eight, but I could tell from the death traps that Alice wore that they were about four inches or so high, so I put her actual height at about five three, maybe five four.

She had long, flowing, mahogany hair that fell gently around her heart-shaped face. Her skin was pale, rivalling the colour of mine, and it brought out the luscious colour of her pink lips. They were slightly out of proportion, the top one a little larger than it should have been, but adding to the allure of them. I couldn't help the overwhelming urge to know what they felt like pressed up against my own.

Even though all of her other features made her beautiful, it was her eyes that drew me in. Deep, dark, chocolate pools, drawing me in without mercy. Normally, I thought that brown eyes were lifeless and flat, but hers were more different to anything else I had ever seen in my life. I couldn't tear my eyes away from them.

I somehow managed to though, standing up and making my way towards her, my mind on anything but the woman in front of me. If I could keep my mind distracted long enough, then I could avoid embarrassment in front of this perfect creature. I was restraining myself greatly at the moment, but I knew that it wouldn't take much more for my control and restraint to shatter into a million pieces.

"Hi, I'm Isabella Swan." She smiled up and me, holding out her hand, which I took, giving her a small smile. "Shall we?" She stepped to the side, flattening herself against her door, making enough space for me to pass through. I nodded dumbly and walked past her and into her office, not missing the glare she gave to someone out in the office. Someone out there must have pissed her off. "Have a seat." She smiled, gesturing towards the chair in front of me.

"Thank you." I nodded, sitting down in the chair, which was surprisingly comfortable. Other chairs in offices like these were awkward and uncomfortable, leaving me to believe that there was in fact more to her that a simple transcribers job.

She sat down in her chair and smiled at me. "I'm guessing you know why I wanted to meet with you." She said, her voice completely serious.

"Isn't that kind of a cliché line?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow and she grinned at me, nodding slightly.

"I guess it is." She chuckled shaking her head. Her eyes softened as she took in my appearance, her smile softening and appearing truly genuine, unlike the smile of the others that I had met with over the years who were only out for their own volition. "I know you're probably thinking that I only want to study the markings on your back to further myself, but that is not the case." She sighed, not breaking eye contact. "Yes, it would give me a huge boost in my field, but that is not what I'm after. There is one reason I was drawn to you."

"And what was that?" I asked, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees, watching her intently.

"I first saw your picture in the paper a few years ago. It told of how yet _another_ historian had attempted to decode what is written on your skin and failed." She reached into a draw at her side and pulled out an old newspaper. This thing was from three years ago. I was just finishing off my residency, preparing to take on a full time job in the ER. "I saw it and I told myself that no one deserves to be hounded for something that was out of their control. It actually took me a long time to work out the courage to call you."

"How come?" I asked, confused. How could this confident, seemingly strong woman be nervous about calling _me_? "Why would you be nervous?" I asked her, wanting to hear her speak some more. Her voice was deep and sultry. It was incredible to listen to.

"Because I knew that you had been hounded since you returned to the States with those markings on your back." She admitted, lacing her hands on top of her desk. "I didn't want to be another person in the long line of failures. I wanted to know what I was dealing with if I actually _did_ call you. I didn't want you to think little of me."

"How could I?" I asked her, not really registering the words that were coming out of my mouth. I caught myself quickly, retracing quickly. "I mean, you've been brave enough to answer me honestly. I wouldn't think little of you. I just ……… I don't understand the fascination it holds."

"Edward." She leaned even further forward on her desk, and I couldn't help but notice her breasts strain against the flimsy bra she was wearing. I thought I noticed the faint indentation of a piercing lurking under the material, but I didn't want to call her out on it. I forced myself to look into her eyes as she sat there, her eyes boring into my own. "These markings are incredible. Wherever they came from, they are ancient. That is all we know." I nodded, bored again. I knew this. "We don't know what it could be. Maybe its insight into an ancient way of life, a whole civilisation we didn't know about. Or maybe its nothing, but until we can decipher it, we don't know."

"I know." I sighed, nodding, running a hand down my face, completely exhausted. "I'm just …. so tired of all of this. I don't want it."

"I know you don't." She nodded sadly. "But just think, if I can decipher it, then you won't have to deal with it ever again. The knowledge will be out there. For everyone to know. And no one will have to bother you about it again."

"Until I'm walking down the street and someone points and me and asks 'Hey, aren't you the guy with the freaky tattoos?'" I put on my best dumbarse voice and she giggled. "Trust me, I've had it before."

"Give me a chance." She pleaded, her eyes practically, begging me.

I looked at her for a long moment. Did I really want yet another person poring over my back?

"Okay." I breathed and she smiled widely, happy that I had taken a chance on her.

"Thank you." She whispered at the same level. She took a deep breath and looked down at her desk, her cheeks turning a faint pink colour. "I'd like to have a quick look now, if that's okay." She looked back up at me, her eyes wide and pleading. I nodded and she grinned again. "Okay. If you could um …. sit backwards on the chair and take off your shirt, please." She flushed even more after that statement and I couldn't help but smirk as I turned around and straddled the chair, removing my jacket and shirt as I did so.

I heard a small gasp escape her throat and I heard her move behind me. She was walking around the desk as I folded my arms on top of back of the chair, resting my chin on my crossed forearms.

"This is incredible." She breathed, her fingers ghosting over the inscriptions on my back. I nearly jumped out of my skin at her touch, an electrical shock passing through her fingers, down into my skin, seeming to penetrate the surface and travel to my very core. Or at least, to my cock, which had begun to salute Isabella Swan in a most offensive way. "This must have hurt." I nodded, remembering the pain I woke up in in the hospital. It had all been from that damned ink.

"The real question is, can you decipher it?" I asked her in a not unkind voice. More impatient and she seemed to understand.

"I'm going to try my best." She admitted honestly, her fingers still ghosting over my back, causing my muscles to twitch. At that moment in time, I was so glad to be straddling the chair. If I hadn't been, I would have been in a seriously embarrassing situation.

"I guess that's all I can ask for." I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that this girl would not be able to solve the mystery of my inked back. No one ever would. I let out another breath and rested my forehead on my arms, closing my eyes, waiting for the disappointment to come.

"From what I can see, it looks to be some sort of ancient Mayan script. But it's not like anything I've ever seen before." She said softly, as if to herself.

My head shot up. "What did you say?" I asked her, swivelling to look at her. _Did she just tell me she thinks she knows where it's from_?

"It looks as though it could be some form of ancient Mayan." She repeated, a small smile on her face, as she took hold of my shoulders, twisting me back around to my original position, before appraising my back again. "There are a few characters here that look similar, but if it was, then it could have been deciphered by now. Something tells me that this predates even the Mayans." She sighed, her hand running along one of the lines of characters on my back. I had to repress a shiver at the slight buzzing sensation her touch caused me, although at the moment all I wanted to do was take this woman on her desk behind me. She had no idea what her simple touches, movements and breaths were doing to me.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "Do you think you can do it?" I asked her, hearing the uneasiness that her proxmity caused.

"I think ……." She trailed off, leaving her finger in the center of my shoulder blades, a crackling electricity passing from her through my skin. "Given the right resources, and enough time, I can." I could hear the smile in her voice. "The ancients is my field of speciality. Anything pre-Jesus, I deal with."

I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "You should talk with my brother in law, Jasper." I told her dryly. Jasper would have a field day with her. _Weirdo history-lovers_. "He's into everything historic as well."

"Really?" She sounded interested.

"Yup." I popped the 'p', turning to look at her. "He's a history lecturer over at NYU."

"Wait," she implored for a moment, sitting on the other chair on this side of her desk. "Jasper Whitlock?" I nodded and she grinned. "I've met him, and his wife. She was extremely……."

"Overbearing?"

"I was going to say hyperactive, but your word works too." She smiled at me and I chuckled.

"Well, that would be Mary Alice Whitlock, formerly Cullen." I shook my head, sighing. "It's because of her that I'm in this mess in the first place. Speaking of which, can I get dressed now?" She nodded, smiling sadly at me. Of course she knew what happened. Everyone who wanted to know, did.

"That little bundle of energy is your sister?" She asked, sounding disbelieving. It didn't surprise me that she thought that. The two of us were so different, it was hard to believe. The only time you realised we actually _were_ brother and sister was when you saw us interact together. "Wow." She sighed, sitting back in the chair. "You must have so much patience." She chuckled and I couldn't help but laugh along, nodding. I _did_ have a lot of patience. Especially when it came to Alice. She felt bad about the whole thing, even now. It was hard to convince her to let it go. What's done is done. She wouldn't have it.

I made arrangements with Isabella to come back a couple of times a week so that she could try and decipher the markings on my back. I asked her why she couldn't just take a photograph of it and work off of that, but she said that the characters were so intricately designed that she needed to be able to see the whole thing and up close to get anything done at all.

The slight blush that adorned her cheeks when she told me this, told me that there might be something else behind her reasoning.

I let it go for now.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

It had been ten weeks since Bella – as she liked to be called – had started working on my back.

The best part about it was that she seemed to be getting somewhere. She had made sure to turn off the air conditioning in her office, just before I got there, seeing as it got a bit chilly in her office, especially when sitting there for hours on end with no shirt on.

We talked about the most random things as she worked. Laughing and joking like we had known each other our whole lives instead of a measly two and a half months.

I found out that she was from Washington. A small, out of the way, nowhere town called Forks apparently. We had both laughed that the name was a little ominous to begin with. I mean, naming a town after a piece of cutlery says it all really, doesn't it?

She told me that she had become interested in the ancients when she was six, watching a programme on Tutankhamun and had become hooked instantly. That love of the mysteries of Egypt had grown into a love of everything ancient.

I laughed at her enthusiasm, and she'd poke me in the back with a pencil. I could feel her every touch on my back, her every caress and stroke and it wasn't doing anything for the desire I was feeling at this exact moment. I wanted her. I wanted to claim her and I knew that when she was finished deciphering the tattoo on my back, I would have no reason to see her anymore. That thought hurt more than it should have done.

"It's a prophecy!!" She exclaimed one afternoon, sounding extremely exuberant behind me.

"What?" I asked, trying to clear out my ears from the near defeaning cry that had come from her.

"It's a prophecy of some sort for a union ritual." She explained. "From what I've got here, it says something about 'the words and the flower coming together'." She recited from what she'd written. "Apparently, the words and the flower mentioned are destined to live out their lives together."

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused as she continued to scan.

"I have no idea." She murmured. "I mean, a flower lives and dies like any living, breathing creature, but words are infinite. They can last forever." She sighed. "I can't believe I've worked it out." She giggled, sounding extremely proud of herself.

"Neither can I." I grinned. Finally, I was free of people hounding me trying to work out the meanings behind the tattoo. It had be figured out. Well, mostly anyway. It was only the final details that needed working out now.

"This is incredible." She squealed, sounding a lot like Alice.

"Well," I turned around to face her, pulling on my tshirt, sensing that we were done for the day. "Why don't we go out. To celebrate."

She bit her lip, nervously. I gulped slightly. Did she not realise how alluring it was when she did that? She had to know.

"I don't want to go out." She sighed, looking at me pleadingly. "Why don't we have a drink at one of ours instead?" Her eyes were wide and expectant. How the fuck could I say no to those beautiful doe eyes?

"Alright." I conceded. "How about mine?" I asked, raising an eyebrow nervously and her face broke out into an amazing, huge grin.

"Okay." She all but whispered, standing up slowly.

I stood up, stretching out my legs and hips. Sitting in the same position, straddling a chair was not the best way to spend the better part of four hours. It hurt like hell when you stood up again.

There was a knock on her office door and she called for them to come in while she closed down her computer, locking everything that she'd discovered in a steel drawer. I hoped that no one would find it and take credit for what she had spent months doing.

I looked to the door and felt a scowl imprint its way onto my face as I saw who it was. It was one of her colleagues. One of the many colleagues that wouldn't stop hounding Bella.

"What can I do for you, Jake?" She asked, smiling at him from where she was gathering up her things.

"I was wondering if I could speak to you in private please, Bella." He glared at me and looked at Bella in a way in which made me want to rip his arms off. _Why, though? You have no claim over her_.

"Well, I was just on my way out, actually, Jake." She looked between Jake and myself, obviously wrestling with something. "Can't it wait?"

"Well, I wanted to know if you would go out with me tonight." He asked, sounding hopeful, shooting me a smirk. I fought the urge to scoff and roll my eyes, but it took a lot of fucking effort.

"I'm sorry, Jake." She really did sound sorry. "Edward and I already have plans."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed, glaring at me again. "Another time, maybe." She didn't answer him before he walked out of the office, he biggest scowl on his face. So much for the confident smirk, fucker! "Shall we go?" She asked, a smile on her face and I nodded, holding the door open for her to walk through first.

She locked her office door and we made our way down to the parking lot, on the side of the building. I suggested we take my Volvo, seeing as I could bring her into work tomorrow morning, and she conceded, but not without a lot of protesting. I pouted at her and it seemed that my pout had the same effect on Bella as Alice's did on Jasper.

It took about twenty minutes or so to reach my apartment and she smiled at me as I opened the car door for her, holding out my hand so that she could climb out with ease. As we got into the elevator, she leaned against the wall, sighing softly. I wondered for the millionth time what was running through her thoughts at that moment in time. I would have given anything to know what was going through her exquisite mind.

_Oh, to be a mind-reader._ I thought, frustrated as the elevator opened and I led her out onto my floor, taking her hand gently in mind, leading her to my apartment.

Sliding the key into the lock, I swiftly turned it, letting the door swing open as I led her inside.

"Wow." She breathed as I turned the lights on, illuminating the apartment. "This place is incredible."

"I guess so." I sighed. I hadn't really thought about it. I guess it was pretty great. What with its spacious rooms, including a living room, kitchen, dining room, two studies – one of which I use to house my piano – a master bedroom and a spare bedroom, it was one of the more luxurious apartments to have in Manhattan. "I don't really spend a whole lot of time here, to be honest."

"How come?" She asked, sounding confused as we made our way over to the kitchen.

"I work a lot." I shrugged and she nodded, understanding how work could take up a lot of my time. "Wine?" I asked, holding up an ice cold bottle of white wine and she nodded eagerly. I took out two wine glasses and gestured for her to lead the way into the living room, where we both kicked off our shoes and jackets, laying them over one of the couches while we took up residence on the other one, sitting at opposite ends, drinking our wine and laughing, much like we did when in her office.

"One thing you want to do before you die?" I asked her, this being the latest in a municple of random questions posed by the two of us.

"Well…" She blushed slightly. "There is one thing I want to try." She put her wine on the coffee table, edging closer to me.

The nect thing I knew was her lips were on mine, moving genlty and swiftly. It took me a moment to register what was going on and respond, which I'm sure made me seem like a complete twat.

She pulled away all too soon and I instantly missed the contact of her lips on mine.

"Wow." She breathed, smiling slightly.

"Yeah." I replied, my voice at the same volume as hers was. Seeing her, sitting there, I knew that I had to make her mine. I had to.

I grabbed her wrist and brought her to me, fixing her lips on mine as she positioned herself in my lap, smiling when she felt my hardness pressing into her arse. She flicked her tongue against my bottom lip and I parted my lips, feeling her tongue slide into my mouth. I groaned out loud when I tasted her. She tasted just as she smelled, like strawberries and cream, mixed with the faintest hint of mint. It made her delectible and I didn't want to ever stop tasting her.

I knew then that I never would.

I pulled her closer to me, gently fingering the buttons on her shirt and I felt her smirk against my lips. She moved my hands away, taking care of that problem on her own. She slipped the shirt off, to reveal a black wifebeater underneath. I thanked whoever it was that created wifebeaters in that moment.

I reached up behind her and undid the clasp on her bra, pulling it out from underneath the cloth, discarding it somewhere in the apartment. I had no clue where though.

My hands ran up her sides, my thumbs skimming the undersides of her breasts and she pushed her chest into my hands. I took her breasts in my hands, my thumbs skimming over her taught nipples groaning into her mouth as I felt my earlier suspicions confirmed. There, beneath the cloth, lay two rings, one running straight through each perfectly erect nipple.

She fingered the hem of my shirt before yanking it over my head, breaking our kiss only long enough to rid me off the offending fabric. She threw it somewhere behind me. Again, I had no clue where.

I ran my hands down her back, stopping at the hem of her skirt and I slowly unzipped it. She lifted her hips and shimmied out of the skirt, revealing a pair of black lace panties. _Fuck me! I think I just came._ It took a minute for me to realise that I _hadn't_ come. Yet.

"Bedroom." She whispered, her lips still in contact with mine and I moaned my agreement. Grabbing her arse, she wrapped her legs around my waist and I stood up, carrying her easily to my bedroom, her lips still attached to mine.

Making it into my bedroom, I kicked the door shut and made my way over to the bed. She pushed away from my, falling into the bed, grinning up at me mischievously.

"These." She grabbed at my belt buckle, pulling me closer to her, bringing her in direct alignment with my straining cock. "Have to go."

She made quick work of my belt and jeans, discarding the belt on the floor next to us, popping open the button of my jeans and sliding down the zipper. She pushed my jeans down, along with my boxers and I barely had a chance to register that I was fully exposed to her, before I felt her hot, wet mouth encircle my length.

"Fuck!" I hissed, through clenched teeth at feeling her lips surrounding me. "Ah … God…. Bella!" I couldn't even form coherent sentences as she sucked and licked at my length, her tongue swirling around my tip before she took my full length back into her mouth, causing me to hit the back of her throat, before gently scraping her teeth along the underside of my cock as she withdrew. This was more than I'd ever fucking dreamed it would be. I felt her hand run up my thigh gently, before it came to play with my balls, gently massaging them as she continued her ministrations on my cock. That was my undoing. I didn't have a chance to warn her before I exploded into her mouth. She swallowed every drop of me down, before she withdrew and smiled up at me. "Fuck, Bella." I breathed, looking down at her.

She grabbed my wrists, that were hanging limply by my sides and pulled my down onto her, crashing her lips to mine. I kicked off my jeans which were still gathered at my ankles and heard them drop to the floor with a satisfying thump. "That's the plan." She whispered in my ear, before biting down on my earlobe, causing me to whimper. Yes, alright, I admit it, I fucking whimpered! Get over it!

I trailed my hand down her stomach, running my fingers along her folds, which were absolutely fucking dripping wet. She moaned as I smirked against her lips.

I hooked my fingers into the sides of her panties, looking into her eyes as I did so. Her eyes gave me all the confirmation I needed and I practically ripped her panties off of her, before I ran my fingers up her wet folds.

She moaned and her backa arched, her wifebeater riding up slightly, revealing what looked like a tattoo. _Well, well, Miss Swan. What are we hiding?_ I slid my free hand underneath the wifebeater, effectively removing it with one hand and I took one of her pierced, taunting nipples into my mouth, nibbling, sucking, licking and flicking as much as I could.

Without warning, I plunged two fingers into her, and she gasped, her back arching off of the bed. I pumped my fingers in and out of her, my thumb concentrating on that most sensitive of spots. I smirked to myself when I discovered that she couldn't form a coherent sentence. Or any words at all. All that came out of her mouth was inane babble.

It felt good to know that I'd reduced her to this incoherent mess of goo.

It made me hard all over again.

Suddenly, I felt her walls clamp down around my fingers, as she cried out my name, covering my fingers in her juices. I removed my fingers from inside her and brought them to my mouth, her eyes wide as she watched as I licked my fingers clean. She grabbed my shoulders, pulling me down on top of her, forcing my lips to meet with hers.

"Fuck, Edward." She growled against my lips, not relenting her attack.

"That's the plan." I repeated her earlier words, situating myself between her legs, placing my hand behind her knee and bending her leg, so as to get a better position.

"I need you, Edward." She panted against my throat, where she was now placing fevered kisses, licking, sucking and biting. That was going to leave a mark. Not that I cared. "I need you inside me."

_Watch what you wish for._ I thought, groaning as I slid into her quickly. She gasped at my presence inside her. I was large. I knew this and she was so fucking tight. I was in heaven, but it was hell to stay still as she grew accustomed to my size.

She moved her hips to signal for me to start moving and I quickly granted that wish, steadily thrusting in and out of her, revelling in the sounds that she was making, knowing that the sounds coming out of me were nothing more than animalistic grunts of pleasure. It wasn't my fault that she was so fucking alluring.

"Faster, Edward!" She panted, her eyes rolling back into her head as I upped my pace.

"Come for me." I reached down in between us and began playing with her clit, earning a sound that was a mixture of a gasp and a groan from her. "Come for me, Bella."

And come she did. I felt her walls clamp down around me, her whole body stilling beneath me as she rode out her orgasm, her breath coming in short pants. I thrust in and out of her twice more, before I reached my own climax, my body shuddering and tensing as I was overwhelmed by the pleasure and heat of the moment.

I dropped my weight onto her, still resting most of it on my arms as I slid out of her. I could have sworn that I heard her whimper at the loss of contact because I sure as hell wanted to.

I wrapped my arms around her and she settled into my side, sighing gently.

I let my eyes roam over her body, stopping when they reached the tattoo on her side. It was a tattoo of two large lillies, joined together on the same vine. It started at the same level as her right breast and ended by her hip, encompassing the entire of her right side.

I was about to ask her what it meant, but she was already asleep, so I settled my head on the pillow and followed suit.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I woke up the next morning to find her gone.

Frowning, I looked sleepily around the room, only to find it empty. I looked at the clock and saw that it was only 7:30AM. Hopefully she would still be in the apartment.

I climbed out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and padded out to the main area of the apartment.

Nothing.

There was nothing of hers left in the apartment at all. It was like she had never been here. The only thing that was there was the half full glass of wine that she hadn't finished last night.

Confused, to say the least, I took my phone off of its' charger and scrolled down to her number. Holding it to my ear, I was disappointed to receive only her voicemail. I left her a brief message asking her to call me back before I cleared up the wine bottle and glasses, trying to figure out why she had left. Had last night been that horrible for her? But then again she seemed to be enjoying it pretty well last night.

I turned on the T.V. whilst working and settled it on the news just as I did every morning. Though what I heard this morning, caused me to slip on the floor and land flat on my arse.

I quickly turned over and looked at the television, not believing what I was hearing.

"_Miss Isabella Swan, of Eclipse Historians, it seems has deciphered the previously thought unreadable tattoos mysteriously received by Edward Cullen more than twelve years ago._

_Although many have tried to read the ancient scribings etched onto the young man's skin, none have been successful until now. Isabella will not be speaking to us directly, but has released a statement to the media, hoping to placate the general publics interest in this entracing young mans tattoos._

'_Edward and I have been working together for the past few months, attempting to decipher the tattoos on his back and it seems that last night we had a breakthrough. It appears to be a prophcy of some sort depicting ancient untiy ritual. Unfortunately, that's all I can tell you at the moment. I'll need to spend some more time studying the characters on his skin before I can tell you more.'_

_Well, there you have it folks. Could the mystery of the tattoos be uncovered soon? Will the secrets on this young mans' skin be released for the world to see? Only time will tell."_

I couldn't believe it.

What the fuck was she playing at?

Telling the media!

What the fuck would she do that for? I couldn't think of why she'd do it. She said that she never would. But that was before she'd slept with me. What the fuck was I thinking last night. _Erm …… you weren't thinking, wasn't that the point?_

I silenced my inner voice and tried to work out what the fuck she was playing at. I was still coming up empty. Maybe she was scared and this was meant to put some distance between us. I didn't have a fucking clue.

I thought back to the previous night. How incredible it had been. It was just me and her. Nobody else. No barriers, no chance of anyone walking in. It was how I'd wanted her since I first seen her. She was fucking perfect. And that tattoo. Made her even more-

I stopped in my tracks. Her tattoo!

What was she'd said yesterday?

'_The words and the flower coming together'_

That was it. Her tattoo was a flower. But what the hell did that have to do with anything?

Frustrated, I growled, running my hands through my hair, making my way towards the bathroom. I stopped and looked in the mirror before I turned and turned the shower on, catching sight of my tattoo as I did so.

I stopped. _Wait a minute._ The _words_! The words in the prophecy Bella had found had to be the words inscribed on my back. And the flower is Bella's flower. It _has_ to be. There's no way it can't be.

But what did I know? I was out of my element here.

But the one who knew had fucked me over big time.

She was not getting anywhere near me or my tattoo again.

I had been alone when it had been given to me, so I will be alone when figuring out its meaning. It is mine and mine alone to bear.

So everyone else can fuck off.


End file.
